


A Welted Reminder (In Heels)

by wombat713writes



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Abusive Reginald Hargreeves, Gen, Hurt Klaus Hargreeves, Klaus Hargreeves Needs A Hug, One Shot, Reginald Hargreeves' A+ Parenting, Well- Psuedo Parents, teen!Klaus Hargreeves
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-06-12
Packaged: 2020-05-02 03:42:27
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 951
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19191211
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wombat713writes/pseuds/wombat713writes
Summary: Klaus Hargreeves was 12 years old when he broke his jaw falling down the stairs. The result: eight weeks of silence, his jaw wired shut. The cause: not, as was commonly thought by his siblings, a run down the stairs in Grace’s heels.





	A Welted Reminder (In Heels)

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first fic on ao3, so please be kind! I'm really excited to start posting on here, and I hope- if this goes well- to post more of my writing. This is a pretty short one-shot, so I'm kind of testing the waters. :)
> 
> This was written for a prompt on tumblr from an anon to thesevenumbrellas. I already posted it in response to the thread on tumblr, but I thought I'd post it on here too. The prompt was:
> 
> Head canon Klaus didn’t fall down the stairs wearing heels, Reginald hit him with his cane when he found out Klaus was going to wear heels outside. He then proceeded to tell everyone that Klaus had tripped down the stairs. Klaus couldn’t say anything with his jaws wired shut and by the time he was healed, he figured it was too late to bring it to attention.

Klaus Hargreeves was 12 years old when he broke his jaw falling down the stairs. The result: eight weeks of silence, his jaw wired shut. The cause: not, as was commonly thought by his siblings, a run down the stairs in Grace’s heels.

He had been wearing them; the height they gave him empowered him, and they were pretty, shiny and black but feminine, making him, in turn, feel pretty. He tried them on in his bedroom, dangling his feet off the bed and carefully sliding each shoe on and checking to make sure they were in place. His feet were just the right size at twelve to steal from Grace. He stood and walked slowly, carefully.

It felt natural, nothing forced or hard about it at all. He had done it before, of course, but only ever in his room. He’d twirled in the mirror, clicking the polished heels together, and danced across the floors, his heels tapping out the beet to a song that only played in his head. This time, though, he was going out of his room. He was going to go down the stairs, through the house.

As soon as he opened the door to his room and stepped out, he knew he had picked the wrong time. He saw Ben at the bottom of the stairs, being tugged along by Allison as the two ran to catch up with Five, Luther, and Diego. Reginald awaited them by the door. Had they been called, and he just hadn’t heard the order? Or was he maybe being allowed to stay home from a mission? Doubtful, but still.

Klaus took a few hesitant steps out the door before he was seen by Reginald at the door. His eyes darkened as he took in Klaus’ appearance, and he pushed through the other students, storming down the hall and up the stairs. Leaving the four students at the door chatting, he came to level with Klaus, his jaw set firmly in a threatening position.

“What are you wearing, Number Four?” Reginald growled.

Scared, Klaus replied hesitantly, “Clothes?”.

Reginald scowled. “On your feet.”

“Shoes… heels,” Klaus looked down, his cheeks flushing as Reginald scoffed. “Grace’s heels.”

Reginald shook his head, looking to the side for a moment as if to regain his composure. Then he reached forward and took Klaus’ collar in his hand. He pulled him forward with his hand firmly in a fist. Klaus stumbled towards Reginald, swallowing nervously against Reginald’s knuckles as they pressed into his throat.

“Let me be very clear, Number Four,” Reginald spoke quietly, “You are to wear the uniform that I have provided for you. You are to wear clothes suitable for someone of your gender.”

He held Klaus close for a few moments longer as Klaus stared up at Reginald, his eyes wide as he hurriedly nodded his comprehension. With a jerk, he let go of Klaus’ collar, sending him rocking back against the door frame of his room.

“Don’t let me see you in those ever again.”

Klaus nodded and turned to go back into his room to take them off, but Reginald shot out a hand and grabbed his shoulder, pulling him to the edge of the stairs.

“What were you thinking, Number Four? Were you going to steal Grace’s shoes and just… keep them lying around?!”

“No! No, I was just going to-

“I don’t want to hear excuses, Klaus, go take those down to Grace now!”

Klaus nodded rapidly, lifting his foot to start down the stairs when he felt something strike him across the back hard. He flew down the stairs, slamming into the ground face first, his hands not coming up fast enough to protect him. As he collided with the ground, pain bloomed out over his jaw, spreading and causing tears to spring to his eyes. He moaned at the pain, but that seemed to pluck another nerve so he fell quiet, rolling over onto his back and looking up.

At the top of the steps, Reginald stood with his arms folded and legs perfectly straight, the hint of a self-satisfied smirk hiding on his face. Reginald had knocked him down the stairs. For some reason, this brought more tears to Klaus’ eyes than the fall did. He just wasn’t good enough for his father. The other students gathered around him quickly, Ben crouching down and placing a hand on his back, helping to sit up.

“I told you not to wear her heels. You can’t run down the steps in heels- you should have known that!”

While the scolding was done with good intentions, he felt his cheeks go red with shame as Allison reprimanded him. He tried to tell his story, but his voice didn’t work the way he wanted it to, and all his efforts accomplished was nothing but pain for Klaus.

Later that week, changing from the uniform into nightclothes, Klaus could make out the massive red welt on his back. Long and shaped like Reginald’s staff, the welt served as a reminder. It reminded him to be careful- to doctor himself and corral his personality to make sure it was suitable to Reginald.

Though this didn’t last long, the coverup did. He would have told, but his mouth was wired shut. By the time he was healed, he felt guilty bringing it up; he felt petty. He was worried that the complaint was too small of one to lend any weight to. After all, what was his physical health really worth? It wasn’t like he was Number One or Number Two.

So Klaus held his tongue for 8 months, but he really held his tongue for tens of years to follow.

**Author's Note:**

> So now you've read my work! I know it's probably not very good, but it is my first work posted here, so if you liked it, please leave kudos or a comment. I think I'll probably faint if someone comments. :) Constructive criticism or just a note would be great!
> 
> You can find me (and my work) on tumblr as emomulberrygirl, or read more of my work here (not yet but I'll probably post soon).


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